Unseeded Syracuse joins top three seeds in NCAA women's lacrosse Final Four

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardSyracuse University's head coach Gary Gait talks to his team during time out against Northwestern in a game earlier this season.

TOWSON, Md. — During a season in which women’s lacrosse received an inordinate amount of unwanted attention, the focus will shift to the playing field this weekend during an intriguing NCAA Final Four.

The slaying of University of Virginia senior defender Yeardley Love on May 3 became national news. George Huguely, a member of the UVA men’s lacrosse team, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death.

Love will be forever remembered in the lacrosse community. Now, however, the sport is poised to crown the 2010 champion.

And that talk has to begin with Northwestern.

Friday in The Post-Standard and on Syracuse.com:

» Confident Orange women's lacrosse team has eyes on ultimate prize

» Westhill graduate Laura Zimmerman at Final Four, playing for North CarolinaThe Wildcats (19-1) have won five consecutive titles heading into Friday night’s semifinals. Northwestern carries a 22-game tournament winning streak into a rematch with third-seeded North Carolina (17-2), the only team to defeat the Wildcats this season.

But Northwestern is the second seed, behind Maryland (20-1), which meets Syracuse (15-6) in the first game. Nonetheless, the defending champs are playing well of late.

This is not the strongest or most experienced team that Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller has brought to the Final Four. But the Wildcats thrashed Duke 18-8 in the quarterfinals and appear to be peaking.

“I think that it has taken us a little bit of time to grow as a group,” Amonte-Hiller said. “And I feel really good about where we’re at right now.”

The Wildcats last year beat the Tar Heels 21-7 in the title game. North Carolina, however, edged Northwestern 18-16 last month in a wild affair that was 12-all at halftime.

The Tar Heels expect to benefit from the experience they gained at Towson in last year’s Final Four.

“I thought last year with a young team, I thought that was a really important step for this program to get there,” UNC coach Jenny Levy said. “And so, you know, going back there again, maybe we won’t be as star-struck and in awe of the situation.”

Levy is confident the Tar Heels won’t experience a letdown after their emotional 17-7 win over Virginia.

“My team has done a really good job all year of being in the moment and playing every single day to try to get better,” she said.

Maryland, which won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship with a 10-5 win over North Carolina, is a solid favorite over upstart Syracuse. The Terrapins have won eight straight since their only defeat, 13-9 at North Carolina on April 10.

Maryland is seeking its 10th NCAA championship, the first since 2001. The Terps advanced with a 15-10 win over Penn, and Syracuse defeated James Madison 7-3.

Terrapins coach Cathy Reese is certain her team won’t be looking ahead to Sunday’s championship game, especially because the players know relatively little about Syracuse.

“Our teams have not had that opportunity to compete against each other during the regular season,” Reese said, “so this will be a new look for us and a new challenge. Our team is excited and looking forward to it.”

The Syracuse men’s team is no stranger to the Final Four, but this is only the second appearance for the women’s squad. The first was in 2008.

“We had a taste of it two years ago,” coach Gary Gait said. “Our seniors have really taken this program from a top 20 program into the realm of the top 10 program.”

The Orange is only the second unseeded team to make it to the Final Four since the NCAA tournament started seeding the top eight teams in 2005. Syracuse, 0-9 all-time against Maryland, is led by Christina Dove (94 points) and Tee Ladouceur (88 points).